Night Essay

The Holocaust: Downfall of the Jews

THEY SAY THAT PEOPLE WILL NATURALLY COME TOGETHER AND HELP EACH OTHER OUT IN TIMES OF NEED. HOWEVER, IN THE MEMOIR NIGHT, WRITTEN BY ELIE WIESEL, PEOPLE ARE DOING THE EXACT OPPOSITE. THE HOLOCAUST IS A TIME OF GREAT DARKNESS AND MASS CHAOS, ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO ARE OF JEWISH DESCENT AND RESIDING IN GERMANY. MANY UNFAIR ACTS OF INEQUALITY ARE ENFORCED AND AIMED AT THE JEWISH POPULATION. THE NAZIS ESPECIALLY, HAVE A DARK AND DIRE SECRET THAT IS BEING KEPT FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD, AND THAT IS THE MASS EXTERMINATION OF MORE THAN SIX MILLION JEWS. EVEN WITH THESE EVIL POWERS AT HAND, THE JEWS FIGHT HARD AND LIVED ON. SOME LIKE ELIE WIESEL, ARE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO ENDURE THE HOLOCAUST AND LIVE TO TELL ITS’ TALE. IN ELIE WIESEL’S MEMOIR NIGHT, THE READER IS ABLE TO CONNECT TO AND EXPERIENCE THE REAL-LIFE TERRORS OF THE PREJUDICE THAT IS ENGULFING THE JEWS, HOW LIFE IS UNFAIR AND HOW PEOPLE ARE NOT EITHER, AND HOW SOME PEOPLE WILL GO SO FAR AS TO HURT OTHERS THAT ARE CLOSE TO THEM WHEN PUT IN A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION.

First and foremost, the memoir Night, displays the constant use of prejudice and bigotry that is rampant towards the Jewish population. An example of this is when the Jewish people are stripped of their rights and are arrested by the Germans when they have done no harm. “On the seventh day of Passover, the curtain finally rose: the Germans arrested the leaders of the Jewish community” (10). People got arrested for no apparent reason, with no explanation from the German officers. The Jews have done nothing wrong, yet they are being treated unfairly and differently from everyone else. To add to that, the Germans starts to add even more rules. This time, the Jews lost their freedom and mobility rights. The first decree stated that the “Jews were prohibited from leaving their residences for three days, under penalty of death” (10) and also that “a Jew was henceforth forbidden to own gold, jewelry, or any valuables”...